Mickey Pena has been suspended 100 games for a third positive drug test

[soxhop411]

Brian MacPherson ‏@brianmacp  5s
Red Sox minor-league lefty Mickey Pena has been suspended 100 games for a third positive test for a drug of abuse
 
https://twitter.com/brianmacp/status/478638934051000320.

 

[jsinger121]

He will likely be cut after this.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

Is it possible someone slipped him something?

 

[jsinger121]

This is not a PED suspension. I believe its drug use.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

Is it possible someone slipped him something?

Well played.
 
And what a moron. 

 

[AbbyNoho]

Well played.
 
And what a moron. 

 
Depends on what he was suspended for exactly. Plenty of smart people have battled addiction. If it's just weed, though, yeah he's an idiot. 

 

[mauidano]

Third times a charm.  See you Mickey.  Get help.  Life is short and you are young.

 

[Drek717]

 
Depends on what he was suspended for exactly. Plenty of smart people have battled addiction. If it's just weed, though, yeah he's an idiot. 

If it's just weed wouldn't it be more accurate to say that our society has a majority of idiots setting the rules and that Mickey Pena is being punished for simply not being one of them?
 
Anyhow, he's only 23 but his K rate has fallen dramatically with the move to AA competition.  Not much of a prospect at this point, though he'll likely get a shot somewhere else.  Doubt it will be with the Sox though.

 

[mabrowndog]

He's still just 23. Not much of a ceiling, but even marginally productive lefties can carve out decent sustained careers in the big leagues.
 
What a shame to throw it away like this.

 

[findguapo]

If it's just weed wouldn't it be more accurate to say that our society has a majority of idiots setting the rules and that Mickey Pena is being punished for simply not being one of them?
 
Anyhow, he's only 23 but his K rate has fallen dramatically with the move to AA competition.  Not much of a prospect at this point, though he'll likely get a shot somewhere else.  Doubt it will be with the Sox though.

What? You are saying that everyone is an idiot except the guy that doesn't know how to follow simple rules? If you want to be a Minor League Baseball player, you are not allowed to smoke weed. If you continue to do it and continue to get caught, you are an idiot.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

Depends on what he was suspended for exactly. Plenty of smart people have battled addiction. If it's just weed, though, yeah he's an idiot.

Agreed. I'm assuming its weed but I suppose it's only a matter of time before an athlete gets hooked on heroin. It seems to be happening in every other part of society.

 

[The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa]

If it's just weed wouldn't it be more accurate to say that our society has a majority of idiots setting the rules and that Mickey Pena is being punished for simply not being one of them?
 
Anyhow, he's only 23 but his K rate has fallen dramatically with the move to AA competition.  Not much of a prospect at this point, though he'll likely get a shot somewhere else.  Doubt it will be with the Sox though.

maybe it was the weed that caused his K rate to fall from his previous high

 

[Drek717]

 

What? You are saying that everyone is an idiot except the guy that doesn't know how to follow simple rules? If you want to be a Minor League Baseball player, you are not allowed to smoke weed. If you continue to do it and continue to get caught, you are an idiot.

No, I'm saying anyone who thinks marijuana belongs on a list of illicit/illegal/banned substances is an idiot.  mLB only regulates it because it is illegal, it's only illegal because a bunch of idiots somehow think it's more harmful than cigarettes or alcohol when multiple studies in fact show that it lands somewhere between those and caffeine (well, that and good old fashioned racism and voter disenfranchisement leading to scare tactics the white middle class has to date still unable to shake because they are, when viewed as a large group, idiots).

 

maybe it was the weed that caused his K rate to fall from his previous high

Or maybe he used to get high before every start and that helped him find his groove.  Trying to quit he's not found the same success and therefore he's regressed trying to get his touch back.
 
Or maybe Mickey Pena is the fringe prospect we all knew him to be and as he's failed to convert his project-able frame and left handedness into something deliverable so he's failing to match up against the increase in quality seen at AA.

 

[Fred not Lynn]

MLB doesn't HAVE to have its own rules against pot just because it is illegal. They simply choose to. Conversely, MLB can ban any substance they like, even if it is legal.

That said, whether the rule is silly or not, it is the rule, and this player is the idiot for not following it.

 

[Caspir]

Agreed. I'm assuming its weed but I suppose it's only a matter of time before an athlete gets hooked on heroin. It seems to be happening in every other part of society.

 
Jeff Allison and a bunch of others already have. Allison pissed away 7 figures in ~2 years or so, and watching it up close was surreal. Kid had a ridiculous arm/frame/mentality, but he was a junkie when he got drafted, and the money made it worse. There's a ton of athletes who get hooked on heroin though. Most of them just die or flame out before you hear their names.

 

[kenneycb]

With Josh Hamilton arguably being the most famous, at least in baseball, that overcame it.

 

[mabrowndog]

it's only a matter of time before an athlete gets hooked on heroin.

 
In addition to the examples cited (Allison & Hamilton), Chris Herren says hi.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

In addition to the examples cited (Allison & Hamilton), Chris Herren says hi.

All true, and obviously it was phrased poorly. I was referring more to the recent surge in heroin use that you hear about everywhere. Now I'm sure there are athletes using it today as well, but we have not, to the best of my knowledge, heard too many incidents over the past five years, of athletes testing positive for heroin.

 

[Fred not Lynn]

Well, it isn't a positive test, but I think an overdose death counts too. You aren't going to find many sadder baseball stories than the tale of John Odom;

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2009/03/04/minor-leaguer-traded-for-bats-died-heroin-overdose/

http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=4334671&src=desktop

 

[opes]

shit, thats horrible.  edit: honestly, those coaches are dicks.